First Kill of the Training Session
While Percy and his father were drinking and reminiscing, Adam had finally found a suitable beast to practice on.
It was a three-meter-long water monitor lizard. However, it wasn't weak because it wasn't much longer than the normal ones back on Earth.
Monitor lizards back on pre-cultivation Earth could grow a foot long, while someone, like the Komodo Dragon, could even grow up to 10 feet long. But while long, they were also short.
Even the biggest Komodo Dragon wouldn't reach the knees of a child. It was nothing comparable to what this monster in front of Adam was.
With a height of nearly a meter and the thickness of a century-old cedar tree, this Komodo Dragon looked more like a small car than a lizard.
When humans absorbed spiritual qi, most of it was quickly converted into growable strength, i.e., their cultivation base. Because of the controlled growth, humans didn't grow much height-wise when cultivated. Their growth was centered on their cultivation base, which quickly grew under the care of the universe's spiritual qi.
Animals and beasts were different. They didn't have the innate intelligence that humans had. As such, spiritual qi was simply rampantly absorbed by them, leading to large physical changes.
In a sense, their bodies were their cultivation bases. And likewise, the larger a beast was, the stronger and higher its cultivation base.
It was also a status symbol for the beasts. They took pride in their physical bodies and admired those with stronger and bigger ones.
Adam had once seen a beast that was in the Martial Master Realm, and all he could think of was huge!
The specific beast he found was a variant of an eagle with golden wings and a toucan-like beak. However, its wingspan was longer than the length of an apartment building laid out horizontally. It was terrifying to the then-mortal Adam.
Thankfully, the way he saw the beast was just through a recording the orphanage head showed him during the talent awakening ceremony. If Adam saw that creature in real life, he wouldn't know if he would make it this far in life.
Adam didn't really know why the old orphanage head showed him that video at such a weird time. Maybe it was inspiration?
It didn't matter.
—
One Komodo Dragon and one 16-year-old boy locked eyes with each other and stared for a very long time.
Seconds quickly passed, but eventually, the dumber one lost patience first.
Using his car-like body, the Komodo Dragon quickly charged at Adam, who was a few meters away, uprooting shrubbery and destroying the terrain in his wake.
Growling angrily, the Komodo Dragon quickly managed to traverse the 10-meter distance between it and Adam in just a split second.
Forgoing defense, it jumped at Adam, planning to use its bathtub-sized head as a battering ram and kill Adam in one blow.
Adam, the victim of such a maniacal attack, was initially jumpy, but he quickly calmed down and thought about the situation calmly. Thanks to this, he quickly found a good counterattack.
'I'm much faster than this thing and stronger too. There is no point in going blow for blow and having the possibility of getting injured. Just use my advantages perfectly, and I can kill this thing without problem.'
Even though Adam was at the peak of the Body Refining Realm and should have no rivals in this forest, bar from his fellow classmates and the wolf in the center, he had a weighted body suit on.
Adam didn't have any spiritual qi in his body yet, which meant that all of his strength came from his flesh and blood.
So with the weighted body suit, weighing nearly 870 kg, threatening to pull him back down to the earth at any moment, his body was under great constraints. Adam's cultivation base at this point was his body, and with the suit suppressing his body, his strength was suppressed significantly.
Still, even with the suppression, Adam was much stronger than the lizard.
From its size, speed, and strength, Adam estimated that the charging animal was only comparable to a human at most at the 4th or 5th stage of the Body Refining Realm.
It was a decent foe for the suppressed Adam, but that's all it was: a foe. It wasn't a threat.
Now that he understood his advantages, clarity quickly regained dominance in his mind. So, after formulating a counterattack, Adam acted.
Twisting his body like a ballerina, he easily sidestepped the charging lizard. Now, the lizard was still mid-charge, while Adam clearly viewed the creature's side profile.
Moreover, since the lizard had jumped at Adam to gain more speed and velocity, its feet were off the ground, meaning it couldn't dodge his next attack. So before the lizard reached the ground, Adam, now at the side of it, raised his leg with power and dealt a devastating kick to the Komodo Dragon's defenseless stomach area.
Like every creature, the Komodo Dragon had a weak spot.
A carapace-like shell covered its entire body, giving it a substantial defense against any weapon. However, there were a few spots where the armor didn't cover them.
The joints, the tendons, and most importantly, the stomach.
Adam took advantage of this weak spot and dealt heavy damage to his first opponent in this forest.
Punches were a good deal, as they could be unleashed much faster than kicks and were much more flexible, but they were weaker.
Unless one had a severe abnormality in their physique and body structure, their legs would almost always be much stronger than their arms.
Moreover, the Komodo Dragon's stomach was in a hard-to-reach spot if Adam wanted to punch it. So, to accurately hit the lizard's hidden soft stomach, Adam kicked it.
And his choice paid off.
Taking the full blow of Adam's kick, the lizard was damn near lifted off the ground by the impact, while its internal organs were rumbled and shaken as if they were directly hit with a hammer.
Flying backward in pain and disarray, the Komodo Dragon destroyed two trees before eventually sliding to a stop just about twenty meters away.
However, even though it was significantly injured, it suffered some internal damage. It wasn't dead yet. The vitality of a beast was far too high to die from such a minor blow.
If Adam left at this moment and left the lizard alone, it would heal from all of the injuries it suffered within just a few days, or a week at most.
Their bottomless vitality was what beasts gained by forgoing their intelligence.
Sadly, no matter how quickly it would heal, Adam wouldn't let it.
Pressing on the attack, Adam quickly darted at the Komodo Dragon, planning to finish it off before it could even fight back.
Using his already extremely high speed, he easily crossed the distance the lizard skidded, and before it even had a chance to react, Adam landed the final blow.
Pairing his two fists together and raising them up sky high, he hammered down on the exposed stomach of the lizard, sending a shockwave-like blow through its already weakened insides.
The Komodo Dragon was weakened, but Adam hadn't done any damage to its armor. The only damage he did was internal, so he wanted to double down and kill this beast by rupturing its viscera rather than cutting its head off.
And his attack worked. Since it was already weak and didn't put up a defense, its internal organs rattled like a Macarena in front of Adam's overhead smash, smashing into each other wildly and harshly.
The damage was so bad that even this four-legged creature couldn't help but cough out crushed pieces of internal organs and blood.
Quickly backing away from the dying creature, Adam waited patiently a few meters away.
Even a rat, when cornered, would fight for its life, let alone this massive Komodo Dragon. And Adam didn't want to face the wrath of a beast with nothing to lose.
Minutes quickly passed, and before Adam knew it, the Komodo Dragon let out a few stiff post-mortem shakes before becoming motionless altogether.
It was dead. Before even landing a blow or even defending itself, it died.
Adam's hands weren't clean, as he had already killed several beasts, so he wasn't very moved by this scene. Instead, his focus was on his strength.
Adam felt invigorated after shaking his two hands to relieve some of the soreness they felt.
Even with almost 900 kilograms slowing him down, Adam could still beat a beast to death in just two hits. It was a fantastic feeling for the youth, who didn't know how strong he was.
"I should find other stronger beasts to practice with," Adam mumbled.
—
As Adam looked for another beast to hunt, Percy and his father finished talking about the man's time in the military.
The bottle of scotch had also been emptied out and was now sitting on the desk, clear.
Once the previous conversation ended, Percy changed the topic, switching from his own past few years to his father's.
"How has the school been doing these past few years? Have there been any good talents recently?" Percy asked as he reclined on the couch.
Principal Smith thought about the question for a moment but quickly reached an answer.
"The past decade or so hasn't been very good to us, but last year and this year have been really good." Principal Smith said before continuing, "Last year, we had 6 students who reached the peak of the Body Refining Realm, but their Vitality Index Scores weren't too high. I remember only 3 of them managed to hit 80, while the rest were even worse."
"Why were they so bad?" Percy couldn't help but interrupt.
Usually, for every breakthrough in the Body Refining Realm, one would get an index of about 6 or 7 points. So, on average, the most normal student would reach the peak of the Body Refining Realm with a Vitality Index Score of anywhere from 60 to 70 when including the half-step Body Refining Realm.
The highest possible number of points one could get for every breakthrough was 10. However, this was extremely rare. Even getting 10 points for one single breakthrough was rare. It meant that the student's stage increase was complete perfection.
A student needed to be born with a perfect body, and then achieve a perfect breakthrough all nine times to reach 100 points on the Vitality Index Score instantly. However, that was just impossible, and Percy didn't expect such a thing.
Still, Sagittarius High School was Planet Eagle's top high school. It was only right for their students to be above average. So when he heard that only 3 of them reached an 80 on their Vitality Index Score, he couldn't help but become a bit disappointed.
Hearing his son's question, Principal Smith couldn't help but be a bit angry.
"Just speaking about it gets me angry." Principal Smith snorts as he picks up his shot glass, wanting to take another drink, only to realize that it is empty.
So, while his anger motivated him, he quickly went into his drink cabinet and pulled out another bottle.
"The other three students were a set of triplets who were practically incubi incarnate. Every other day was spent sleeping with random girls. If it weren't for their talent and that they never assaulted anyone, I would've kicked them out long ago." Principal Smith angrily spoke as he poured himself another drink.
Seeing his father get riled up at such a thing, Percy couldn't help but laugh.
"Hahaha! It's fine. Who wasn't so energetic in their youth? At least they managed to reach the peak of the Body Refining Realm." Percy laughed, teasing his father.
Principal Smith just snorted and downed the drink he had just poured.
"I'm changing the subject." Principal Smith said, coughing slightly. Turning his body slightly to look out his window where the forest was, he continued, "This year, though, is the peak of our past 100 years."
Following his father's gaze a bit, Percy looked out the window to the forest.
"Oh? Are these kids really that good? Besides Sam, who is so talented that you would speak up for them?" Percy asked semi-interestedly.
"Well, Sam is extremely talented, but she spends far too much time in the alchemy labs than cultivating. At least it's paying off, though. She's almost about to become a tier 3 alchemist. Professor Singh has high hopes for her." Principal Smith explained, bringing a bit of annoyance to his son's face.
However, Percy didn't get really angry but just sighed in resignation.
"I keep telling her to focus on her martial arts, but she is too damn hard-headed. She said that she'd become a great alchemist at like 7, and she still hasn't forgotten it." Percy sighed as he pinched the bridge of his forehead.
Even though he was usually far away, Percy still often sent care packages back home, mainly for his wife and daughter. The packages usually contained something for Sam to cultivate or his wife to hold onto while he was away.
That, coupled with the guidance of Principal Smith, someone in the Martial Grandmaster Realm, Percy didn't think Sam would have any contest in her generation, at least on Planet Eagle. But from the messages he got back from either Sam or his wife, it seemed that his daughter had been corrupted by medicine and had delayed her training for it.
Principal Smith simply laughed at his son and continued with his words.
"Sam is one thing, but she isn't even the best in her year. The one I'm looking forward to most is a kid you don't know." Principal Smith said softly as he looked deeply into the forest as if he could see a figure.
Matching his father's gaze, Percy curiously asked, "Who?"
"A war orphan named Adam Courtois. I think you'd like him."
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